The Album Collection 1977-1980

Signed Edition. Limited to 1000.

Protégé of Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks. Songwriter for Gram Parsons and Emmylou Harris. Near-bandmate with Eagles and Jackson Browne. In a career that’s now into its sixth decade, Walter Egan has perhaps defined what it means to be a “songwriter’s songwriter”.

Yet while his 1978 US Top 10 hit, ‘Magnet and Steel’, has become his calling card, appearing in films such as Boogie Nights and This is 40, and its follow-up single, ‘Hot Summer Nights’, has been covered by artists in France, Denmark and Japan, as well as being sampled by Dr. Dre for Eminem’s 2009 single ‘We Made You’, Egan’s catalogue is a diverse body of work, at the core of which is a dedication to following his creative instincts.

Between 1977 and 1980 Egan recorded four studio albums for Columbia Records in the USA. Gathered here for the first time on ‘The Album Collection 1977-1980’, those albums – ‘Fundamental Roll’, ‘Hi Fi’, ‘Not Shy’ and ‘The Last Stroll’ – show an accomplished songwriter and supernaturally talented musician at the very peak of his powers. Each one includes the very cream of L.A.’s “golden era” players and producers while ‘Fundamental Roll’ was produced in its entirety by Lindsey Buckingham. Meanwhile, its vocal arrangements were created by Stevie Nicks and both provide backing vocals at the precise moment Fleetwood Mac’s career was going supernova with ‘Rumours’.

Presented here in a 7” deluxe packaging 4CD set with a 12-page illustrated book, sleeve notes have been provided by respected music writer Jason Draper (‘Prince: Chaos and Disorder’, ‘Led Zeppelin Revealed’, ‘Only The Good Die Young’) based on a new interview with Walter Egan who reflects on his work and career.

4xCD

Full tracklist as images shows.